gloria borger talks, and more with kyra philips and brianna, thank you so much. good afternoon, everyone, i'm kyra philips in for brooke baldwin. and let's get right to it. it is the post-shopping holiday blitz, retailers offering the best deals of the year all in an effort to boost the bottom line before they close the books on 2013. and here are just a few of the deals out there. toys "r" us are offering buy one, get one 40% off on all video games. also sears with discounts on appliances, and macy's, up to 65% with free shipping if your order is over 75 bucks. just outside macy's, margaret, are you tempted to shop with

everyone that you're interviewing today? >> reporter: yes, there are a lot of people here today, kyra, and macy's, they're pulling out all the stops to get the inventory off the shelves before the end of the year. macy's opens at 6:00 a.m., and here is what we heard from shoppers. >> yeah, nice deal, 50% off, a lot of stuff on sale. >> 25%, and then they kept on throwing in all kinds of little goodies. >> oh, no, i got 50%, the guy pulls out his phone and takes another percentage off for his coupon. i wouldn't tell you his name. >> i got jewelry and other things that i missed, i took the opportunity to get it on sale. >> a lot of shoes and girly stuff. >> i think i got four pair. >> yeah, i got two. and kyra, as the days go on, the crowds have grown as the afternoon has progressed. >> and i'm assuming a lot of

returns, as well. i couldn't believe how high the numbers are. not just the spending but the returns. >> reporter: yes, that is a huge issue. the national federation of retailers said that last year retailers lost $264 billion from returns. so a lot of stores have loosened up their policies for returns, you have 30 days. but we found a list of stores where the time is unlimited. but check the list, the stores we found that had unlimited returns, bloomingdales, macy's, and consumers are being tracked. there is a company called agile one, and i got in touch with their ceo. he said there are different types of consumers and they track them. there are the ones that do returns, and then there are consumers that find the same sweaters in three different sizes, and then returns two of them. so what he does is try to advise the stores to give them

incentives so they would be able to get a better chance of keeping the sale. >> pretty creative, margaret connelly. so where are the best deals? we'll ask our experts in a few moments. and the more we learned about the hackers and target stores the more difficult we learned how it was to track the spe spenders, the breach didn't compromise the unincrypted pin data. >> it is interesting, target is saying there is no evidence that pin data was compromised. but then you have this report that just came out saying in actual fact, that may not be true. in fact, these hackers may have gotten access to people's pins,

as well. it is so difficult to figure out the corporate spin, what is true and not true. but if these hackers did actually get access to people's pins, it means they can go directly to an atm and go directly straight to people's bank accounts. they can check the balance on people's accounts and use that to figure out how much money they can use without anyone noticing. my advice to people is simple. if you shopped at target between november, it is crucial you check your statements. sometimes the hackers will test the waters and buy something very small. but if you're not sure the best thing to do is just cancel your card and get a new one, that is the safest way to be sure, i guess that nothing was stolen from your account. >> well, let's take a look at part of the statement today. and it says to date there is no evidence that unencrypted pin

data was compromised. our goal is to address this issue, now several banks have limited how much money we can take out of our own accounts. and because of this mess, right? so can you get us up to speed on where that stands? >> right, so j.p. morgan chase specifically, initially reduced spending limits on potentially affected customers. so what that meant was they said initially they were going the reduce the limits and raise the limit. they raised it to $250 for withdrawals, specifically, the banks have to protect themselves, as well. typically if somebody hacked into your account, you will not be liable for the charges. so far, j.p. morgan chase specifically is the only major big bank, only major u.s. big bank to have taken those

measures. >> kyra. >> the u.s. has by far the world's largest economy, and yet some of the worst debit and credit card protection, as we have learned. so how can that be? and when is that going to get fixed? >> well, the real problem lies in the magnetic strip on the back of your card. that is where a lot of the data is. and this is technology that came about in the 1960s. and it is a lot cheaper. that is why we still have this system. in europe, england, specifically where i'm from, they basically use a chip stored on your actual physical debit card, where a lot of the data is stored. it is not transmitted. so means if somebody is going to break into your account they do actually need the physical card and the pin. now, the issue with the u.s. is that this system is a lot more expensive. but my bet is, when you see more of these data breaches taking place, you are going to see more banks going over to the european system no matter how expensive it is. >> kyra?

>> thank you so much. nine years ago, i came to pakistan to help my government. and i did so at a time when most americans would not come here. and now, when i need my government it seems that i have been totally abandoned. and forgotten. >> it is a brazen move by the terrorists. that video drop happened on christmas day. an american captive, pleading for his life. al-qaeda is holding warren weinstein, they grabbed him two years ago in pakistan, and now they're using him on christmas day, no less, to try to gain leverage. listen to this, they put him up to pressure his own family to lobby the u.s. government for his release lest he die in

captivity. >> i understand that this is not easy, and i know that doing so will take its toll on each of you. but in the final analysis, unless you continue to try to get president obama and his administration to actively pursue my release, we may never see each other again. >> clearly, you can see he is under duress. that is american warren weinstein, two-plus years, a captive of al-qaeda. so can we be certain that folks in washington are actually sitting through this video, as we speak, and looking for clues to his whereabouts, the condition of his release? >> i think so they're looking to see if this is a recent proof of life and whether it holds any clues. but you know these cases are handled very quietly and low key. the u.s. doesn't want to do anything to jeopardize efforts to get him out.

let's note that he works for a private contractor that worked in pakistan, they could be doing work right now that the company is not saying anything. but clearly you can see he seems very desperate. if you compare the previous photos that we've seen of mr. weinstein to this video, you can see the years are really taking their toll on him. and as you hear in his plea to president obama, let's listen a little more to the message. >> mr. obama, you're a family man. and so you understand the deep mental anxiety and anguish that i have been experiencing, and therefore i'm appealing to you. on humanitarian basis, if nothing else. in asking that you take the necessary actions to expedite my release. >> and he says that president obama is in his second term now, doesn't have to work on re-election. he can actually take some of

these hard decisions. and he says he has spent his whole life in the service of the american government and people, but he is also asking secretary of state kerry and the american public to bring him home. he says he felt abandoned. and in this letter he sent to "the washington post" and that he forwarded to this video, he says he feels disappointed. that the media has forgotten about him. and when you look at what they demanded in the exchange for his release, the release of al-qaeda prisoners, end to drone strikes in pakistan and afghanistan and yemen, it is clear it is not going to happen. because the u.s. doesn't negotiate with terrorists. and it is really hard to see how this gets resolved. >> coming up next, we'll talk to a former cia covert operations officer. and we'll ask him what he sees in this video and any possible signs that weinstein could be sending, coming up.

just a matter of seconds, another ten or 15 seconds it just would have been too much fi fire. >> an l.a. cop driving to work makings a daring rescue, how close he and the driver came to a fiery end. and how do you really feel about the 113th congress? let's just say not impressed is an understatement. date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. oh what a relief it is.

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well, imagine that you're trapped in your car, it is on fire, burning, and you can't get out. and with all the flames, who would risk their lives to help you? it would take a miracle. >> reporter: hard to tell, but that is a black mercedes. it lost control on a major freeway in los angeles, harder to believe the man who was driving survived. >> it was just a matter of seco seconds. another ten or 15 seconds, it just would have been too much fire. >> reporter: seconds to rescue the 72-year-old man whose car burst into flames after smashing into the center divider. >> reached in there and i fumbled a bit more, and thank goodness i found that button and popped the belt and grabbed him. and pulled him out. >> adding to the miracle, don

thompson, a 26-year veteran of the lapd bomb squad happened to be going to work, his shift started early. diving in to pull the driver to safety. >> just kind of burned hair here and first degree on the side. >> thompson did have help, miracles sometimes need company. a los angeles firefighter happened to be driving by, making the rescue seamless. >> being able to help the patient and get resources on scene a lot quicker because he happened to be the commander of the dispatch center and called them directly to do so. >> a horrible accident, and an act of heroism. >> it makes me feel good to know i saved a life. >> understatement from a veteran cop all in a day's work. >> well, miguel marques, thank you so much. and there were two civilians that also helped with the rescue, the man pulled from the car was transported to the

hospital with moderate injuries. well, a fresh but light round of winter weather is in the great lakes and the northeast, hurting efforts to restore power to residents. utility crews have been working in cold temperatures ever since christmas eve. more than 400,000 residents in michigan lost power after the big ice storm, and northern new england, the same scenario, about 30,000 residents in maine were left in the dark. a full fix, not expected until the weekend, as well. more rain heading to the south. cnn meteorologist jennifer gray here now to talk about the travellers returning home for the holidays. what do you think? more storms to come? >> well, the short answer is no, the country is very calm right now, we're seeing high pressure in control in the mid-section, maybe a couple of isolated showers in florida, mostly sunny. we'll actually warm up in the midwest. we're only dealing with a couple of lake-effect snow showers around the great lakes.

that is really it. look at this, this is denver warming up to 52 degrees today, kansas city at 44, chicago will hit 30, even in d.c. in the 40s. so we'll gradual be warming up over the next couple of days. we're seeing a little bit of lake-effect snow. but really it won't be too much. the power outages, the ice, all left over from last weekend's storm. and so we'll watch temperatures warm up in the areas in the next couple of days. buffalo, syracuse, could pick up two or more inches of snow throughout the day, even mainly picking up one to three inches. temperatures cold in the north. really not above freezing but in the next couple of days things will start to change. so burlington could see temperatures at 36 degrees on saturday. and with these temperatures above freezing that will help with that ice melt through the weekend. >> all right, jennifer, thank you. well, here is a question for you, what is a lower approval rating than roaches, least and

genghis khan? congress. and retail experts will tell all of us where we can go.

genghis the politically minded people who may disagree on everything else appear to agree at least on one conviction, congress stinks, no, really stinks, a new poll founds that the public's dislike is large. >> reporter: they just wrapped up their first year in the senate. their take on the institution is telling. >> it is still pretty bad that we haven't been able to get more done. >> the more cooperation we can get, the better off we'll be. >> reporter: a new poll shows that 67%, two thirds of the country, call this the worst congress of their lifetime. and nearly three quarters of these people, 74%, have lived a long life, 50 and older, 73%

says congress has done nothing to address the public's problems. >> the public approval of congress is still pretty low. does that surprise you? >> no, because what they see every day on television is dead lock and fights and screaming. what you don't see every day is large groups of both democrats and republicans coming together and saying how can we work through this process? >> winter thing that is bipartisan, the blame, the public doesn't trust either party. 52% say policies of democratic congressional leaders will move the congress in the wrong direction. republican leaders fare only slightly worse at 54%, saying the gop will move the country in the wrong direction. the moderate republican spent time trying to solve problems, she wants the americans to have hope in 2014. >> i hope the american people will realize that there are some of us trying to build bridges and bring people together and solve problems. >> congress left on a higher note than it started, passing a

bipartisan bill in the house and senate. several senators said they had people coming up to them from all over their state, thanking them for being reasonable. one person said he thought it was a compliment at first, but then realized it was a pretty low bar. >> thank you, dana, people are holdi ing congress to a very lo bar. from dallas, leaning to the right, ben ferguson, now, this recent poll i looked at said that americans think that car salesmen are more ethical and honest, than congress. which i thought was funny. >> who does that insult more? who does that insult more the car salesman or the congressman, i'm worried. that is a toss up. >> so we can laugh at one point, but when does it become dangerous, mark? >> oh, we're way past the point where it began to be dangerous.

i mean, for the last four or five years congressional polls of everyday citizens about congress have shown that people find congress to be ineffective, spineless and self-serving. and every year the numbers go up. not only does it reflect how people feel, this has been the most ineffective in american history, they are spineless, goes on both sides of the aisle. >> ben? >> i mean, look, it is pretty popular right now to say you hate congress. i mean, name one thing that congress has done in the last several years that you can say man, that really affected my life in a positive way. so i think part of this is just people just think it is really fun to rip on this elected officials that they don't have any faith in to fix their real problems. they run on these big grand ideas and then they never get anywhere close to what they have promised. how many years have we been

having immigration reform? i mean, that started back in 2000, and we still haven't done anything about it. and there was something, a really truly big dream with obama care and then we see democrats getting hammered on that issue. because you can't keep your doctor, premiums are a lot higher than promised. and the president has taken a beating on that. he needed to get to hawaii to start over with this season. now, people are saying they're not doing anything but taking my money and what am i getting in return? nothing. >> and i'm going to ask both of you to tell me what congress did do right? okay, well, we mentioned the disaster of the shutdown, the health care system, energy policy, ben you just hit on some of that. all of this while only 64 bills were passed. can any one of you say but hold on. there was this that was good, or a sign of hope? >> no -- >> go ahead, mark. hold on, ben, go ahead, mark.

>> i saw signs of hope in the last three months with regard to obama care and disagree with ben's assessment of obamacare, i think in truth what we saw in the last three months are democrats actually standing up to republicans and forcing the nation to deal with the fact that we have obamacare, and watching democrats have a spine during the shutdown time on the debt ceiling conversation and obamacare has inspired me. but i'm still not optimistic that 2014 will be considerably better. >> i think it is going to be better for the republicans. i think the government shutdown -- the government shutdown hurt republicans and now all of that leave the democrats were rallying on has disappeared. the democrats are at a very low number, and the republicans are favorable, more than the

democrats with the obamacare being implemented because mainly it has been a pretty big failure. you can't even get the website to work right. >> i mean, that is not true, ben. obamacare has not been a failure. >> they actually passed a budget agreement. isn't that a little sign of hope? >> yeah, it was a great budget agreement. have you looked at it? >> go ahead, ben. >> we both agree the budget agreement is bad, the difference is i say it is bad because republicans refuse to include necessary components like unemployment extension and other sort of financial relief for everyday vulnerable citizens, that is the problem. and republicans wouldn't play fair. >> see, mark, here is my thing. i actually look at what congress did last year is the glass half full and half empty. think about this. whether you're republican or democrat they did barely anything, which maybe means they actually saved you some of your hard earned money because they didn't pass a bunch of

ridiculous government bills to spend more of your cash. so in theory, it could be a good thing they did nothing because at least they're on vacation not passing laws that are hurting small businesses and spending our tax dollars. i kind of like it. >> well, this has been a lovely discussion on how congress sucks as mark so lovingly put it. >> we agree. >> well, you agreed on something. >> thank you for coming together and showing some kind of partisanship. >> our pleasure. >> okay, thanks guys. >> how about ups. if te i tell you what, there is an issue people are on the same page, not real happy that the christmas gifts didn't arrive on time. and now there is another shipping company facing pretty serious holiday rage. and if you just didn't get that special gift that you hoped for, well, there is still time. here is a positive note. the retail expert is going to tell us where to find the best

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[ male announcer ] find offers from regal cinemas, walgreens, and kellogg's... they're great! [ male announcer ] ...and on exciting entertainment [ taxi whistle ] come on, guys, the millers just got their cards, too! [ male announcer ] check out the possibilities. aarpdiscounts.com. pop in the drum of any machine... ♪ ...to wash any size load. it dissolves in any temperature, even cold. tide pods. pop in. stand out. well, i tell you what, the public is still outraged at ups, even though the company is on the road dropping off all the packages. and now, there is another company behind. nick valencia has more. >> reporter: i just got off the phone with ups, and although they don't have official numbers on how many people have been

affected it is estimated that thousands of you are still waiting on christmas gifts that never quite made it under the christmas tree. they are responding to the scores of complaints but say it is entirely their fault. ups trucks are back out in full force this morning, trying to deliver packages that were supposed to be delivered by christmas morning. >> i waited around for hours and hours for it to show up and it never did. >> reporter: thousands of gifts not delivered on time. waiting in ups warehouses to be shipped. ups says they have already delivered an estimated 132 billion packages in the last week alone, claiming the back log on an unprecedented surge in on-line sales and bad weather. ups said, the back log preceded the network, and some shipments were delayed. but many were and

a half weeks ago. >> it what not been processed yet. >> disappointed customers stormed the on-line customer support. they got the same message, still waiting for the response from this morning. who would have thought it, one said, hash tag, bunch of clowns. ups is not the only delivery company experiencing delays, people lined up at this fedex shipment center christmas morning. >> i couldn't give my mom her gift. >> meanwhile, ups, as they expect a vast majority of packages to be delivered today. >> and it is not just fedex and ups in trouble with their customers, it is also their on-line retailers that rely heavily on ups and fedex. they're trying to make amends with customer whose are furious. amazon.com says they're offering

$20 gift cards as well as willing to pay for other costs to make up for the blunder. >> nick, thank you so much, maybe you didn't get your packages delivered on time, but a lot of people have not finished shopping yet. whether you're a post-shopper or just looking for deals on line, if you thought black friday was a bargain shopper's paradise, you have to check out what is going on today. helping us check out the bargains, brad wilson, editor in chief. what are some of the biggest deals right now, brad? >> the best deals we're seeing are coupons that are valid on items that are already marked down. so let me give you an example, bananarepublic.com literally has a coupon that is available for 50% off. we're talking about items 50% off at least, plus another 50% off. we're seeing nike.com, there is

a coupon code for an extra 20% off clearance items. there are coupons for 20% off. their sale items, brooks brothers is doing their semi-annual sale, this week's today you can get an extra 15% off. so my sense is there is a lot of excess inventory and it is being marked down. and there are coupon codes out there that can help us get savi savings even on top of that. >> can you get a better deal, i guess now than before christmas? >> so this is actually one of my favorite times to shop. and i'm looking at the stuff, 365 days a year. it is a little different in one regard. it is not necessarily broad, so you're not going to find every model and every size. but you're going to find a lot of things at their lowest price of the year right now. >> well, while i have you, let's talk about target for a second and what should shoppers know about that data breach? i know you have been tracking that, as well. >> yeah, so you know, on the

good side of things, this is probably the last time we'll hear about on-line shopping being less safe than off line shopping. it -- but it is worth keeping in mind a couple of things. so this was only at target stores. the issue is that they literally read the magnetic strip on the back of the card. i don't think any of us realized this. there is a lot of data in there, our names are in there, pin numbers, security codes, other information in there, as well. it is a good time to think about either getting a new credit card number from the same account that you have, just calling them up and saying cancelling that old number, issuing me a new one. or thinking about getting a new card altogether, that is because the bank also are being very competitive with their sign-up bonuses. so in a lot of cases, you can get 2 or $300 by signing up for a new credit card. or 350,000 points on frequent

flier miles. i'm seeing those as competitive right now as any point in the last five years. so if you like my wife shopped at target between november 27th and december 15th, it is doubly worth the look right now. >> and i already changed the debit card, brad, thank you so much. appreciate the insight. >> good to be back on. thank you. you bet, up next, this is the last season that college football will use the controversial bcs system. so what did you think? did the computer get the teams right this year? >> also, something is lurking underneath the city of seattle, but the city workers have no idea what it is. and the possibilities, the speculation, they say it is pretty outrageous.

well, we're just about two weeks away from college football's national championship game. and this will be the last time the computer picks who will play in the title game. the system is called the bowl championship series. and as you know, the system crunches computer and human bowls to figure out the two best teams. this time it is florida state versus auburn, happening january 6th. next year, the committee will select a 14th playoff. we want to know, did the bcs get it right this year? 61% of you said yes. and as you can imagine, tickets

to the championship game are pretty hard to get your hands on. so check out the reaction of a little auburn fan as he opens up his christmas present and realizes he will go on to pasadena to cheer on his tigers. >> my god, oh, my god. yeah! >> what is it? >> tickets! >> tickets to what? tickets to what! >> that is 11-year-old r.j. myers. santa came through with the only item on his wish list. and we're going to have to wait to see if santa can fill r.j.'s other request, and that is luck to see if he will win. we're waiting to see what is going on, have you heard about this? it is the world's largest tunnelling machine and got stopped in its tracks, $3 billion of a project on hold. now people were wondering what is blocking the machine. >> reporter: no doubt, bertha is

a behemoth. she was put to work grinding a tunnel under seattle for a planned highway. but bertha was only a tenth of a mile on her journey when she discovered something that stopped her in her tracks. >> we want to be careful and make sure something doesn't damage this $80 million machine. >> reporter: but what is it? the scientists pointed out that the water edges were filled in with just about anything in the pioneer's shoes. >> there was a boat buried in downtown seattle. so you name it. it could be down there. >> reporter: another theory is it is a massive boulder left during the ice age. residents have their own guesses. >> some type of burial ground maybe? >> she is taking a christmas break. >> reporter: if that is the case, bertha's christmas break started two weeks ago.

since then, the $3 billion tunnel project has been on hold as the workers drill wells to help with the water pressure in front of bertha, in hopes of sending workers down there to see what the problem is. >> you can't back the machine up. so all you can really do is proceed forward. >> reporter: but the transportation department says that bertha won't be moving forward until at least early next year, after the mystery is solved. cnn, los angeles. well, stranded on a cruise ship wedged in antarctic ice. the rescue, the emergency and the stunning pictures ahead. and there were many memorable moments in entertainment this year, what was your favorite? we'll count down the top ten talkers from stage and screen. o. afghanistan in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned,

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one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. well, in one of the most unforgiving climates on earth, right now 74 people are on board a cruise ship and wedged in an ice field. we now have the video shot by one of the passengers, showing the area of this region just off

the coast of antarctica. >> reporter: we have a low pressure system sitting off the vessel, and wind speeds on average of 50 kilometers an hour, reaching in excess of 70 kilometers an hour. the vessel has not moved for the last two days and we're surrounded by sea ice, we just can't get through. every is safe, the vessel is perfectly safe but we can't make the passage forward. >> they have to cut through the ice, it is sitoo thick, they ar trying to send ice breakers to free the ship. and the dozens of tourists, researchers and crew on board are remaining faithful. so word is the u.s. is sending dozens of fire missiles and drones to iraq to help the government fight an al-qaeda-backed insurgency.

are you surprised? >> today, the organization that attacked us on 9/11 is a shadow of its former self. >> jim walsh, international security analyst with me. you just heard the president, jim, calling al-qaeda a shadow of its former self. so why are we sending weapons to iraq? >> well, it is true we're sending the weapons to help the government back al-qaeda. i think when the president talked then he was really talking about the al-qaeda value, the old version, al-qaeda 1.0, where they had an old base and were able to launch attacks on the u.s. soil. this is more regional and local, thinking in a nefarious way. so you have it in syria and iraq, it is posing more of a challenge to those governments than to the home land. >> so have we miscalculated how

strong the al-qaeda might be? this year, we put posts in the area because of the terrorist attacks. i guess it is nothing to dismiss, i guess i'm trying to figure out if this is really al-qaeda or freelance terrorist cells, using this twisting form of branding known as al-qaeda? >> yeah, that is a great question, kyra, my own take, it is really -- we're talking about sunni religious extremists, and we find them in syria. what is going on with iraq? well, one of the answers is geography. what is going on in the border ar areas? in syria, and the extremists who are fighting the assad government. they are fighting saudi arabia and qatar. the iraqi government has not helped its own cause much because it is a sunni government. it has increasingly over time narrowed its base of government

and started to exclude sunnis. and when they're excluded, what is going to happen? they will turn to other violence or protests. so part of it is geography. part of it is bad political management. and we're getting out of iraq and that is leaving a bit of a vacuum. >> final question, i remember after the war, they talked so much about iran and supporting the extremists there. so if indeed, it is strengthening again, who do you believer believe is helping them out? >> well, this is the nature of international politics, iran and the u.s. are on the same side in iraq. we both want that shaii government to be stable, we're on the different sides in syria, what we really want is peace and stability. we just don't want this thing to rise up in flames as a religious

war in the middle of the middle east. >> point well made, always good to see you jim. coming up at the top of the hour, a man wearing women's clothing scales a security fence, crosses a runway and manages to get away from a mu i multi-million dollar security system. this all went down at new york's international airport. pretty stunning security breach, ahead. side-by-side, so you get the same coverage, often for less.

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well, bad boy behavior, babies named after airlines, 2013 was hungry for the games. cnn taking a look at the top ten headliners. >> reporter: justin bieber has not left the spotlight since 2009, but they found him making the headlines for the wrong reason, in fact, they declared him having the year of affluenza. he struggled to stay out of trouble this year. kim ya is born, kanye west and kim kardashian continued their reign as the couple of the year.

sure, kanye had a hit album, and a tour, but nothing was as newsworthy as the birth of their new daughter. in the year of the selfy and in typical kardashian fashion, kim took to social media to unveil her post-baby body. kanye surprised her with a marriage proposal. >> we have been following this breaking news, actor paul walker has died. >> reporter: a "fast & furious" death. fans' hearts broke after paul walker's unexpected passing over the weekend. the 41 yearly act-year-old actos killed in a car crash. fans came out to support him, he was a success in films such as eight below. and the singer caused waves

after lip syncing the national anthem. she surprised everyone with the release of her fifth studio album, and it quickly became not only the fastest selling album of her career, but also an itunes history. queen bee is ending the year at the top of her game. basic cable ruled tv. the walking dead rose to record ratings, proving we're still looking at zombie fever. the critically acclaimed "breaking bad" concluded its five-year run, and duck dynasty revealed reality tv is still guiding the conversation. phil robertson's anti-gay comments were an issue. and best oscar for the performance in silver linings

playbook she won us over falling to collect her reward. lawrence found herself at the top of the box office with the release of "the hunger games" catching fire. she ranked behind angelina jolie of forbes' list of highest paid actresses. now lawrence is earni ining rav for her scene-stealing performance. and angelina jolie revealed she underwent a double mastectomy. she had the preventive procedure after learning she carries a gene mutation that increases her risk of developing cancer. the announcement inspired other women to consider the procedure as an option. paula deen's downfall. a year ago, the celebrity chef was on top of the world. that all came crashing down in a

lawsuit by a former employee. in the deposition, deen admitted to using the "n" word. after many endorsement deals, deen went on to apologize, but it is yet to see if she can reclaim her throne. james gandolfini died of a heart attack at the age of 51 on vacation in ougitaly. the comedy opened after his death to critical acclaim, and earned gandolfini his final sag award. and miley cyrus made controversial news at the mvas. she proved her teen persona was

nothing but a distant memory, her first number one hit arrived in celebration for her 21st birthday. it is miley's world, and we're just living in it. >> thank you, michelle, and you can vote on the top 20 stories of 2013, and go to cnn.com for the review. and miley is working on making the top ten for 2014. her new video came out today, and to say it is only for mature audiences only, well, that is a bit of an understatement. >> ♪ ♪ as the producer said, this is just the clean part. the song is called "adore you." a ballad, and obviously not for

the hannah montana fans. we all got a little flush a couple of minutes into it. let's just say the video has gotten a lot of buzz on how much the 21-year-old miley has grown up. a security breach at new jersey's newark airport this morning has a lot of people wondering how a 24-year-old man actually managed to scale two security fences and make his way across the runway, all without being noticed by the multi-million dollar security system. alexander, what are authorities saying now? >> reporter: all right, well, they're telling us that no planes were ever in danger. and one official is actually calling the whole thing an embarrassing situation. but this is raise iing very sers questions and concerns about a highly expensive and highly sophisticated intruder detection

system that involves radar systems and surveillance cameras. and yet with all that in place, authorities tell us on christmas a suspect was able to breach a security fence, cross over two runways, make his way all the way over to terminal c and reach gate 70 where he was finally stopped by an employee, at this point, authorities are investigating how the suspect got in and how he reached the gate going in. >> and this is getting a little more strange, we're learning more about this suspect. apparently something was going on in the wee morning hours and had he was arrested wearing women's clothing. do we know anybody about what was going on there inside the airport? >> well, authorities say he is a 24-year-old jersey city man. at the time of the arrest he was wearing women's clothing. they say that he had told authorities that he was in a car with someone else when he became spooked and headed for the

airport. >> oh, my, it does continue, alexander field, stay with us. and all right, i want to get back to this brazen move by the terrorist, this video drop on christmas day that shows an american captive pleading for his life. al-qaeda is holding warren weinstein, they grabbed him two years ago in pakistan. and now, they're apparently using warren weinstein, age 72, to try to gain some sort of leverage. take a look, they put him under pressure to lobby the u.s. government to negotiate his release, lest he die in captivity. it is pretty horrible. take a listen. >> i understand this is not easy, and i know that doing so will take its toll on each of you. but in the final analysis, unless you continue to try to get president obama and his administration to actively pursue my release, we may never

see each other again. >> well, clearly under duress. that is american warren weinste weinstein, two-plus years a captive of al-qaeda now. mike baker from boise, idaho, a former security operative. having looked at warren weinstein is there anything here that stands out to you and your highly trained eyes? >> well, no, there are a couple of points but unfortunately none of them necessarily a surprise. it is very good news there is a proof of life video. and obviously when you get something like this you work hard to make sure it is authentic. and make sure exactly the time the video was made. if there is any evidence of location, any indications at all that you can pull forensically off of this. the other part of this is the release, and what he is saying is unfortunately not a surprise. meaning that al-qaeda, which picked him up and took him hostage, as you mentioned over

two years ago back in august of 2011. this is what they do. they target important dates. they target anniversaries. they look for the publicity. and they know they release something like that at christmas that it will get more attention than it normally would. and the other part of it, what he is saying, he feels abandoned. he feels like he has been completely forgotten. well, of course, he is an elderly person who worked as a development specialist, for good lord, trying to help the pakistanis under contract. he has health issues and is saying exactly what al-qaeda wants him to say. they're telling him what to say in this video. and frankly after two-plus years of being held hostage he is going to do whatever it takes to try to get at least a message out. so he is going to comply. this is not what he signed up for when he went out to lahore years ago. >> well, let's play this video,

and then i want to get your take. >> in order to help with my pain and suffering and in order to help to reestablish my health, i have asked my captors if they will agree to let my family visit me. but they have done so on the basis that you have reached an agreement with them that will provide a quid pro quo, that you will negotiate. >> so mike, we know the united states will not negotiate with terrorists. so as a signal, is it clear to you what they're proposing? >> well, they're not going to have his family come visit him. what are they going to do? put them inside the motel 6? this is psychological torture being performed by al-qaeda, frankly. and they're doing this because

they're trying -- they're looking for publicity. they're trying to make you know, this case about how relevant they are. and you know, unfortunately, you know, mr. weinstein is in a position where of course, he has to do this. he is going to say what they tell him to say. he is going to believe what they're telling him. look, you have been forgotten, you have been abandoned. the truth of the matter is, he has not been forgotten. the government is doing whatever they possible can. unfortunately, because we watch the feature films we think that rescue operations are easy, but it is difficult to try to rescue an individual who is being held likely up in eastern pakistan, up along the waziristan area. our ability to collect information on where this individual is little to none. >> with your experience, obviously, he is being coerced. but it sounds as though he is speaking in his own words.

would al-qaeda have told him look, here are the points we want you to make. just figure out how to say it or it is it. >> well, it depends on how clever the group is, where he is, how good their english is, how experienced they are. often times they will write out a script and rehearse it with the hostage and say listen, this is what you're going to say, if you don't follow the script. if they're not as experienced they will say yes, this is what we want you to say. they will reshoot this video as many times as it takes until they have what they believe is the message they want to get across. we're looked the same thing, we're looking for evidence that may be for help operationally, in terms of what time and where it was shot. they're doing the same thing, figuring out in their mind how much it is as sterile as possible. mike, appreciate your help. coming up, what target and mcdonald's has in common, well,

they may need crisis management for recent brand damage, our expert may have some advice. and a huge reward to one lucky couple. how the salvation army is turning the discovery into a contest. who are we?nouncer ] we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours.

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unencrypt well, the market closes in just about 45 minutes, and we'll see if we set another record high. the dow set a record at the opening bell and right now we're up 118 points, continuing a record, the nasdaq up 30%, good news for all of our 401(k)s, yes. and for all of you at target, christmas is the super bowl. so when hackers were involved, you can get there was crisis at target headquarters. then there is this, ups, amazon's best friend failing to deliver millions of packages in time for christmas. so ups is blaming it in unprecedented sales and a surge in bad weather. whatever the case, people are not happy. >> i waited hours and hours for it to show up and it never did. >> they're still blaming it on the ice storm.

terribly disappointed. >> we got in line for an hour, they said it was not processed yet. >> they left me a note, i couldn't go to my parents and open their gift. >> peter, ups and target, okay, huge blows to suffer around christmastime when people are already tense, right? so short-term, long-term, how do you think the pr disasters will talk them long-term? are or they immune? >> target will recover, because they're one of the giants, let's face it. they're huge brands, they're not just going to disappear one night because of a mistake, target is a huge store and will take steps to increase security. people are not going to stop shopping at target simply because of a one-time breach, unfortunately there will be more breaches over time. not just target, but other stores as people start to rely more on internet.

ups has a great chance to make things right, not only with customers waiting to receive their gifts, but the corporation on a long-term basis. they can do something like a discount or apology, i have seen several companies take advantage of this. including fab.com. anyone who ordered a gift on christmas day and didn't get it, there is a really great chance to make up for some of the bad stuff here from all the companies. >> i think it -- >> there definitely has to be more than an apology, a discount, promise it will be fixed. there has to be a promise it will be fixed. >> okay, let's talk about the other pr crisis we have been following. and this is mcdonald's. oh, my god. it is the website, they publish this die -- dietary advice, saying don't eat fast food, what

was their thinking? >> maybe -- perhaps a mc-- corporate allegiance. it started out a couple of weeks ago when they first issued the website. the site was designed to help employees, i would bet it was three levels down, saying make sure you tip your pool cleaner. i said look, i slung fries in high school, i don't think i could afford that. christmas came, we forget about that story, this morning it broke again, and it said oh, by the way, the things you need to eat to stay healthy, don't eat mcdonald's. showing a subway, this is an amazing screw up for mcdonald's. they had one person internally editing this, this guarantees me

no one saw it from the time it was produced from the time it went live. they definitely need more editing on it. and the au pair, oh, my god. >> thanks a lot. well, fresh but light round of winter weather in the great lakes and northeast, is hurting efforts to restore power to thousands of residents. utility crews in michigan and new york have been working feverishly to get the lights back on. and then in northern new england, the same scenario, about 30,000 residents in maine were left in the dark, a full fix not expected until the weekend. and more rain heading to the south. cnn's meteorologist jennifer gray has more. >> yes, we'll continue to see a bit of lake-effect snow in the northeast. but all in all, the entire country is staying very, very calm. so if you are traveling home after christmas day you are

going to be in store for a pretty good travel day. high pressure in control across the middle part of the country. we're actually going to be warming up across the midwest, in fact, denver, pleasant to where your temperature has been in the past couple of weeks. 52 today, kansas city, 46, even d.c. at 43 today, and new york city at 36. we are still dealing with lake-effect snow around upstate new york, portions of vermont, new hampshire, and we could pick up accumulations of about two to four inches of snow. in syracuse, buffalo, one to three inches of snow in northern maine. and we'll deal with temperatures still below freezing. so the ice storm that left all the ice and all the trouble for these areas last weekend, temperatures have not gotten above freezing. that is why we're still dealing with the ice. but good news for a lot of you, temperatures getting above freezing on saturday and sunday. hopefully we can get a little bit of sunshine, too, and that will help to melt some of the

ice, detroit getting to 40 degrees, that will definitely help things. and sunday seeing temperatures of 45. all right, coming up here in the news room. egypt, naming a new terrorist organization one that most recently enjoyed some backing by the u.s. plus? what is the world coming to? >> new federal charges in a violent game that appears to be gripping u.s. cities. we are on the case next. car insurance rates compare side-by-side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. that's one smart board -- what else does it do, reverse gravity? [ laughs ] split atoms? [ flo chuckles ] [ whirring ] hey, how's that atom-splitting thing going? oh! a smarter way to shop around -- now that's progressive. call or click today. well, you've found delicious! ♪

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. egypt's military-backed interim government has made a stunning declaration, branding the muslim brotherhood the islamic movement that propelled mohammed morsi to power just two years ago. but the two sides have deepened, all of this just a month after a referendum on a new constitution. and in sudan, the leaders are in the middle of a crisis talk right now, desperate to

stop the civil war from breaking out in the area's newest nation. the revolt has half the country engaged in civil war. joining me once again, fred, the president of kenya and the prime minister of ethiopia just arrived in south sudan. is there any resolution in sight? >> there really is not any resolution in sight. they concluded the meeting today and said it was constructive but does not yield any resolution as of yet. the time is ripe for them to sit together and try to arrange a truce. the big problem right there, right now, this is a feud between the president and the former vice president, both leaders of very strong tribes in

that country that are going at it. and many people believe the longer all of this goes on, the more likely this will turn into all-out ethnic war. it seems as though the country is being pushed further to the edge. and the fighting is spreading, as you said, not just in the capital, but the central and north of the country where the rebels have apparently taken some of the oil field and oil accounts for almost the entire revenue of that country in south sudan. this is a dire situation and a difficult situation, one that the u.s. and the u.n. are trying to sort out, kyra. >> well, let's talk about that, the u.n. and the u.s. trying to add peacekeeper forces, how bad is the situation and how many people have been displaced? >> yes, it is awful. the u.n. says the situation is absolutely dire there. the number of people displaced is close to 100,000, many people

leaving the country, trying to get into u.n. camps. and right now the u.n. camps are not very well guarded. that is why the u.n. is moving in thousands of additional peacekeeping forces. yesterday they said they would up that to about 6,000, you know the language the u.n. uses, pretty soft language, today, the u.n. for south sudan came forward and said the peacekeepers on the ground are authorized to use force if the civilians are in danger. there were reports of executions, mass graves, not verified yet. but however, it seems as though there are massive human rights abuses going on. we saw heavy fighting in the town of bor in the past couple of days, people tell us the town is absolutely ransacked, kyra. and up next, a dangerous game that involves knocking out strangers just for fun and then

putting the video on the web. and imagine posting a complaint on line about a shopping experience only to be fined thousands of dollars by the retailer. we have one family story and how they're fighting back.

so a texas man has been arrested and charged in connection with that so had-called knock out game. let's take a look and see what usually happens, this person goes down, it is a sucker punch to a complete stranger and they take off. pop ypy harlowe has more. >> reporter: sure, it is a video that is very disturbing, you heard about the alleged knockout game, not the instance we're talking about but it gives people an idea of what happens. well, federal officials arrested a man from katy, texas, and charged him with a hate crime. his name is conrad barrett. they say in november, he approached a 79-year-old african-american man, hit him so hard in the jaw, and he fell to

the ground. and barrett laughed, and said knockout, got in his car and fled. this is all according to the criminal complaint just unsealed. the law enforcement officials say the victim, a 79-year-old man, suffered two jaw fractures, was hospitalized for days and had to get metal plates inserted. so you can see how serious this is. again, this is charged as a federal hate crime. in the complaint i won't even read you some of the language, but federal officials say they saw other videos on the cell phone of barrett that used the "n" word, and had very racist things that were said. so that is why this crime is being charged as a hate crime. one of our affiliates in houston had a chance to talk to a family member, somebody named joseph lewis who is the nephew of the alleged victim. i want you to listen to what he said. >> his face was swollen on this side. had he had three plates in

there, he is sucking out of a straw. what is the world coming to? >> and i also want to read you, kyra, something from the federal complaint. it says in another video barrett is driving around. it goes on to say, and he states he is trying to work up the "courage" to play the quote, knockout game. so what does barrett say about this? i had a chance to talk to his attorney, his attorney said his client, barrett, has been rather diagnosed with bipolar disorder. he said his client is on medication. and also said that at this point he cannot say whether or not his client did or was involved at all in this attack. but he said this, he said mental health issues definitely played a part in anything that occurred. he also went on to say he, his client, is very sorry for this person. kyra? >> yeah, federal hate crimes charge, i mean, this is serious.

so what kind of sentence could he face? >> so we're still waiting for an indictment. he has not been indicted yet. but if he is and if he is convicted, barrett could face a statutory maximum sentence of ten years in prison, a $200,000 fine. he had the initial court appearance this morning. tomorrow, at 10 p.m. central there will be a public hearing, we'll get a lot more information from that public hearing. i want to read you what the fbi chief in houston said. he said it is unimaginable in this day and age another could be drawn to violently attack another based on the color of their skin. he went on to say, we remind all citizens that they are protected by law from such racially motivated attacks and encourage people to report such attacks to the fbi. and earlier i said alleged victim. well, we know this man was attacked allegedly by barrett. but we know he had to go to the hospital and that he had to have

metal plates inserted in his jaw. so certainly he is a victim of the attack. >> we also know this is not an isolated case. that we've seen cases like this across the country. and the justice department clearly sending a message that you will not be able to get by with this. poppy, thank you. sure. a utah couple is fighting back against an on-line retailer now. they're suing a sitele call -- site called clear gear.com, they're seeing them, why? all for writing a negative comment. >> they say it should be illegal for being fined for posting a negative review. well, now the couple at the center of the story is fighting back. a utah couple fined $3500 for writing a negative review is now retaliating, according to a

lawsuit. the battle began when john and jen palmer bought a few christmas gifts from the website cleargear.com in 2008. but they say the items never arrived and their calls went unanswered. finally, the transaction was cancelled. jen palmer vented her frustrations on line, posting it on line saying there is absolutely no way to get in touch with a physical human being. no extensions work. then three and a half years later they received this e-mail, appearing to be from clear gear, stating they would be fined $3500 if the negative review was for the tak not taken down in 72 hours. >> it is something as simple as posting a review on line. >> but clear gear told the palmers they signed away their freedom. and in a clause forbidding them from taking action that

negatively impacts clear gear. they tried to take the ad down but couldn't, they reported the $3500 bill as unpaid to a collections company. >> it was bad enough when we went to get a second card, it took a month to find a bank that was willing to finance us because of the huge ding. >> the palmers tried to settle, they said, but never heard back from the company. >> as jen palmer's original review on line noted, part of the problem with clear gear's customer service is that they're difficult to contact. >> thus according to the palmers, leaving them no choice but to sue. they're asking the court to declare they never owed the $3500, and ask that it be taken in front of a jury. >> it is not a practice where businesses get to extort money based on the terms the customers didn't read in the fine print.

>> cnn did try to reach out to clear gear several times but did not hear back. clear gear did respond by way of e-mail to our affiliate, kutv, saying the request for the family to take down the ad was not black mail, but an effort to avoid the fine. and utah's challenge to blocking same-sex marriage may be delayed. hundreds of couples are running to get licenses approved while they battle it out in the courts. the state's attorney general says they want the court to be involved. once filed, the appeal will go to the supreme court justice who will have the option to rule on it herself or ask the entire nine-member court to weigh in. well, some people are calling it a grinch movie. two major satellite tv providers raising rates for millions of you, the customers. we'll tell you how much you, the customer will pay. plus, they call las vegas sin

city, but these taxi cab driver's actions were pretty generous, what he did next that has people across the country talking. hi, i'm terry and i have diabetic nerve pain.

it's hard to describe, because you have a numbness, but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point i knew i had to do something. once i started taking the lyrica the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain.

lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. . opening early and closing late, stores are battling to get your post-holiday dollars right now, making the days between now and the new year pretty good days for shopping.

they can get mega deals for sure. brand name items such as tvs, clothes, you name it. retailers are pulling out all the stops to boost the bottom line. cnn's george howe is in chicago and has a closer look of the amped-up christmas sales. >> reporter: kyra, this is the week that stores have consumers on edge. stores are doing everything they can to offer discounts, 40, 50's 60% off in some cases, all to get you inside. just when you thought the holiday shopping frenzy was over, the after-christmas sales are on. and this year it is expected to be bigger than ever. some stores like walmart and kohl's opened their doors as early as 5:00 a.m., to anxious shoppers just hours after christmas. according to deal news, you will get the best bang for your buck on clothing. brand name hdtvs and holiday

treats and decor. >> the discounts will definitely be deep this week, but what you get are leftovers, you can get 70, 75% off on wrapping paper. >> reporter: and the sales are not just in stores. they're on line, too? >> we're doing a lot of amazon.com, a lot of on-line shopping. >> reporter: retailers like amazon.com, old navy and saks are amping up their christmas day sales in hopes to amp up your christmas cheer. >> they're looking at what they see throughout the holiday season. so if you add it all up, this final week is just as important for retailers as the week before is. >> experts say the 26th is also a big day for gift card purchases, with target customers cashing in their stocking stuffers the most today. >> gift cards for several years in a row have been the most requested gift item.

we're actually expecting the gift cards to bring in $28 billion once they have been redeemed. >> and for those of you who may be lugging around that sack of returns, some advice for consumers, be sure to read the fine print on the label for the return window and to see if you can get an extension for holiday gifts. also be an the lookout for stocked gifts and keep in mind, some things like movies can't be returned once you open them. consumers always ask the question when is the best time to get the best deals. well, experts tell us the longer you wait in the week to do your shopping the more the retailers have to give more discounts, deeper discounts to get the merchandise off the shelves. kyra? >> well, in one of the most unforgiving places on earth,

right now 74 people on board a cruise ship are wedged in an ice field. we now have this video shot by one of the passengers showing the slie isolation of this regif antarctica. >> this is a fishing vessel with wind speeds on average of 50 kilomet kilometers an hour, reaching in excess of 70 kilometers an hour, the vessel has not moved for the last two days. we're surrounded by sea ice and just can't get through. the vessel is safe but we can't make a passage forward. >> well, the crew first sent out a distress beacon. up next, a man eludes a

multi-million dollar security system all while wearing high heels and women's clothing. we're asking a security expert how it could have happened. and a remarkable story of a cab driver in las vegas, he faced big temptation but ended up making a moral decision, we'll tell you what he did. so, this board gives me rates for progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes!

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. well, this just in to cnn, accused l.a.x. gunman paul

ciensa is said to have killed a tsa officer and wounded two others, the defendant, who was shot in the head by police during the incident actually spoke in court today. in a very hoarse voice he whispered the words, good morning and not guilty. the prosecutors have not decided whether to proceed on to a capital case. and a 32-year-old man dressed in women's clothing managed to scale a security fence and make his way across two runways to a terminal all without even being noticed by the multi-million security system. glenn, newa yorark has been kno have security problems in the past, so what is going on here? >> i don't know, the united

airlines employee has to be a hero, because he intercepted the person who breached the security fences and so on, the program which has been installed at the four airports in new york under the jurisdiction of the port authority is a multi-million dollar production. and to have a perimeter detection system like that in full operation supposedly at the time i find it very, very disturbing that the individual was not detected going across the fence, and actually was detained going across the complex. >> apparently he was not even trying to breach airport security. so what does it say about this you know, multi-million dollar system? and also, what about the bad guys who actually want to try for do harm and breach security? >> well, again it is very disturbing. you have this system installed and tested over the last several years. and there continue to be

different breaches at the different airports in the port authority jurisdiction. so one of two things are going on. either the equipment is not working properly or the observation teams that are to be watching the system are not paying attention. you have a foothill operational control tower, 24 hours a day at an airport the size of newark. and i start to wonder, what were those people doing? an individual gets over the fence, walks across two runways and approaches the terminal. that is a major breach. >> so what about the time of day? is that significant? because it happened around 4:00 in the morning. >> no. it is significant in one way, the airport basically is in a very slow operational mode. the airplanes are parked. you're beginning to see the arrival of employees to get the airplanes ready for the first bank of flights which usually is 6 to 8:00 a.m. in the morning, so you have mainly airline employees and operational people who are functional at the

airport preparing the planes. in this case it worked. it was the united employee who intercepted the individual. it goes back wards, if the alarm system was working right, the port authority police on patrol should have spotted this individual walking across the runway. and again you have very few planes that are operational at this time. >> well, it is not all sin in sin city, who knew? a big night for a poker player could have ended very badly if it had hnot been for an honest taxi cab driver. >> reporter: gerardo gamboa was behind the wheel of a cash cab and didn't know it. >> when i picked up this guy and he wanted to go to palm place. and he carried a brown bag. and who knows what is in there. >> gamboa dropped the passenger off at palm's place.

little did he know he was dropping off a professional poker player who had a big night. >> so he gave me five dollars' tip. >> the guy got out and left a brown paper bag behind. it was discovered by a doorman at the b oellagio. >> they didn't even know -- there is money in my back seat. >> now at the bellagio with his next fare, believing his other passenger left behind a bag of chocolate, he wanted to know what was in store. >> i wanted to know what kind of chocolate was in it. i reached in, found money. >> $300,000 in cold, hard cash. >> so i had the passenger, i told him, look, sir, you are my witness, i don't touch anything here. >> gamboa called his company, yellow checker cab, and did the

right thing. soon, the passenger showed up here looking for his 300,000 bucks. >> he wanted to shoot himself in the head. he was devastated. >> the taxi company called metro police to do it did. >> he's on the poker circuit and very, very famous. worldwide poker player. >> reporter: for his integrity, gamboa was named driver of the year and received dinner for two at a high end steak house and $1,000 reward from yellow checker star. >> hope that goes a long way for christmas, all right? >> it will. >> thank you. >> reporter: gamboa hopes his honesty goes a long way. >> even though they call it sin city, it's not. it's angel city. >> do you just love that guy? how about the poker player? he needs to fork up some cash to this fabulous cabbie. thanks for the great story. while the cab driver didn't just keep the money, he also said quote, my dignity is not for sale. that's the way our parents taught us when i was a kid.

fair warning. if you want any of us at cnn in your home next year, you'll have to pay a little bit more if you are a satellite tv subscriber. dish network is giving itself a 5.5% raise. for directv customers, they will tack on another 4.4% to your bill. that comes to roughly an extra $2 to $5 each month. analysts say the price of the content you like to watch is going up and that cost is being passed along to you. remember this unforgettable moment? >> yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. but no, do i? am i an addict? no. have i tried it? probably in one of my drunken stupors. >> or how about this moment? >> not the most believable guy in the world right now. >> we are counting down this year's top ten scandals. [ female announcer ] who are we?

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i think you'll agree we had a lot of scandals in 2013. let's take a look back with joe johns. >> reporter: number ten, beam me up, baby. it's seldom you get the crack question of the year and the crack answer of the year in the same place, but it happened to the now notorious star of his own crack-smoking video.

>> am i an addict? no? >> reporter: toronto mayor rob ford when he got put on the spot in an open forum with the whole world watching. >> have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years? >> yes, i have. >> reporter: ford was a trendsetter in 2013, leader of the pack in the category of mayors gone wild, with honorable mention to number nine, san diego's mr. smooth himself, bob filner, who resigned as mayor, facing a tidal wave of sexual harassment allegations. charges of unwanted advances including a former female employee who filed suit. irene mccormick jackson alleged that filner asked her wouldn't it be great if you took off your panties and worked without them on. he was eventually sentenced to 90 days home confinement and three years probation for assaulting women. number eight, also in the run-off for worst mayor, kwame kilpatrick of detroit, convicted of racketeering and extortion so

pervasive, prosecutors said it helped push the motor city into the largest municipal bankruptcy in american history. kilpatrick finally got the term he wasn't elected to serve. 28 years in federal prison. speaking of elections, number seven on our list isn't a mayor, but he could have been. new york's former congressman anthony weiner, a hit performer on the list from past years for the sexting controversy that made him leave capitol hill. he made an encore running for the big apple's top job but when more explicit pictures surfaced that were sent to a 22-year-old woman under the alias carlos danger, weiner lost the primary with less than 5% of the vote. magnanimous as always, he gave the media the universal we're number one hand signal as a parting shot. while we're on the subject of popularity, number six on our list is that agency everybody loves to hate, the internal revenue service. and in keeping with the season, what might be described as one of the most notorious naughty

lists in recent u.s. history. it seems somebody at the irs got the bright idea of singling out conservative groups, especially tea partiers, for extra special attention. the practice attracted outrage from coast to coast, and an investigation by the other federal agency that gins up fear and anxiety everywhere, the justice department. and speaking of spilling the goodies, there are some nongovernment players that must be mentioned for outstanding performances in 2013. number five on our list is the former man of steel, lance armstrong. here's a guy who was master of the cycling world and the big lie, winning the tour de france seven times, claiming repeatedly that he wasn't doping to enhance his athletic performance. but after being banned from the sport, he gave a tell-all, sort of, interview with oprah, where else? he confessed and offered what may be remembered as the biggest understatement in the history of sport. >> i'm not the most believable guy in the world right now. >> reporter: number four on our list, with another kind of credibility problem, that phony

sign language interpreter who crashed the nelson mandela memorial service. it would be funnier if it weren't so creepy. this guy got within arm's length of the president of the united states, making meaningless gestures. it later came to light that he had once been accused of rape and murder, but was found not guilty. number three is paula deen. what would possess a host of a popular cooking show to get herself embroiled in a lawsuit where somebody was actually going to ask her under oath whether she ever used the "n" word when she knew she did? can you say settle the case, already? and speaking of legal problems, number two on our list is the not so secretive anymore, nsa, the national security agency. who would have thought that one government outfit that was supposed to be stealth city could manage to embarrass our anger just about everybody in the u.s. by letting a rogue former contractor named edward snowden download a busload of secrets, so-called signal intelligence from its computer system, splash some of it to the

media, then run off to russia, of all places, while the goodies continue to be spilled item by item for maximum effect. and finally, on our list coming in dead even, tied for first place for the broken government award of the year, congress for the absolutely inexplicable government shutdown, which featured an absurd reading of a dr. seuss classic in the middle of a 21-hour senate talk-a-thon. >> i do not like green eggs and ham. i do not like them, sam i am. >> reporter: not to be overlooked, the obama administration for the utterly disastrous bungled rollout of the healthcare.gov website. which debacle was worse is entirely in the eye of the beholder. the futile attempts by a congressional minority to dismantle the law of the land, with the stated aim of getting rid of the president's signature achievement, or the video replays of the leader of the free world promising that his signature achievement would allow anyone to keep the status

quo only to find out that, well, it just wasn't true. >> if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. >> reporter: joe johns, cnn, washington. >> great piece. also, joe johns is filling in for jake tapper today. "the lead" starts right now. on this day after christmas, we will gladly return justin bieber. how much is postage to canada? i'm joe johns. this is "the lead." the money lead. how can you exchange the gifts you don't want when they haven't even arrived yet? so many families still waiting for christmas to happen because of a monumental backlog at ups. the world lead. a christmas plea to the president from an american abducted by al qaeda in pakistan over two years ago. what the white house is saying today. and the pop lead. it's hard to take justin bieber seriously even in retirement. the singer breaks millions of little hearts by announcing he's taking a break. hey, did you hear hha